Season 6 Episode 2: Like Nothing Ever Changed (2 of 12)
by GrayCharacter16
Summary: With Merlin restored to Camelot, everything is back to being just like it's always been. The queen is expecting, the king is a prat, Gwaine is drunk, Gaius is busy and Merlin is racing to figure out why a newcomer to Camelot wants to steal a magical artifact from the vaults in time to prevent the theft . . .
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I have to tell you before you read; this is one installment in a continuous storyline. The events in this episode tie into my S5 E13 rewrite and my S6 E1, so please don't read this till you've read those! Here are the links (just take out the space after www. to make them work):**

**S5 E13: www. /s/10568694/1/The-Diamond-of-the-Day-Part-2-Alternate-ending**

**S6 E1: www. /s/10577584/1/Season-6-Episode-1-No-Stone-Unturned-1-of-12**

**Please don't read this till you've read those! :D**

* * *

Merlin pushed his head through the door and glanced around the room to see if Arthur was up.

Naturally, the king was still fast asleep, mouth hanging wide open. Merlin banged the door loudly behind him.

Arthur didn't stir. His servant brought the tray he'd been carrying down on the tabletop as noisily as he could. When this failed to wake his friend, Merlin stomped across the room to the wardrobe and slammed it open to pull out an outfit for the king to wear.

By the time he was done, Arthur still hadn't so much as shifted his position. Shaking his head with a dry grin, Merlin took his fallback extreme measure; he opened the curtains.

Light flooded the room and a beam of blinding sunlight fell directly across Arthur's face. With a loud groan, the king threw an arm over his face and clawed around for a pillow. Merlin raised his voice unnecessarily to call, "It's almost noon, sire!"

"What?" Arthur lurched upright, squinting in the sudden light. "I have to leave for the hunt!"

The wizard turned away to hide a grin. "No, it's not actually almost noon. I was just trying to get you up."

"Mer_lin_!" Exasperated, Arthur launched his pillow across the room.

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" The younger man smirked, batting the missile aside.

With a vigorous glare, the king swung his legs off the side of the bed and got up, pausing to stretch and heave a huge yawn. "What's for breakfast?"

Merlin glanced over his shoulder. "I don't know. What are you making?"

Arthur paused, perplexed. His servant grinned hugely. "I'm joking, meat head."

"Fruitcake." The king retorted tetchily.

"No."

"What?"

"Of course I didn't bring you fruitcake for breakfast. What do you think I am, your maidservant?" As the king opened his mouth to respond, he cut him off. "Don't answer that."

Arthur heaved a sarcastic sigh. "I wasn't saying fruitcake for breakfast, I was calling _you_ a fruitcake."

"Where on Earth did you get that one?" Merlin raised an eyebrow.

"Where did you get meat head?" His friend shot back.

"It's this wonderful thing called imagination." He grinned. "You wouldn't understand."

Arthur huffed and changed the subject. "What _is_ for breakfast?"

"Sausages . . . and stuff." Merlin was busy brushing the ashes of last night's fire into the pan and didn't turn around to check the contents of Arthur's plate. "You can look for yourself."

The king wandered across the room to change from his night clothes into the undershirt and trousers his servant had set out for him, then made his way to the table. "Next time bring me more sausages, Merlin."

"There's half a platter of them there!" His servant complained.

"Maybe there were; you must have eaten most of them." Arthur grumbled.

"No I didn't – not this time, anyway." Merlin grinned over his shoulder. "You just have a stomach the size of a cow."

"A cow?" The king repeated indignantly, casting an involuntary glance at his stomach.

"Or a very large . . ." The wizard ran out of ideas and said the first thing that came to mind; "volcano."

"A what?" Arthur stared at him, settling into his seat at the table. "Merlin, I think you're losing it."

Brushing his hands off on his trousers, Merlin abandoned the fireplace to pour the king's wine. As was customary in royal households, the queen's quarters were separate from her husband's; Gwen dined with Arthur every other evening and a couple mornings each week, but Merlin's serving routine was nearly unaffected by the king's marriage.

"Merlin, these sausages are cold." Arthur criticized after a moment.

"What?" His servant poked one of the items in question with an ash-smeared finger. "No they aren't."

"Keep your grubby paws off my breakfast!" The king swatted his hand away indignantly. "They're cold inside."

"Well, that's not my fault." Merlin licked the sausage grease off his filthy finger, provoking a disgusted grimace from his friend. "Blame the cook. If you don't want them, I'll eat them for you," He added, reaching for the plate.

Arthur slapped his hand away again. "Just go get them heated up. And you'd better hurry, too, because you still need to get this room cleaned and polish my boots in time to get me ready for the hunt. Then after that you'll need to saddle my horse – "

"Saddle your horse, ready your weapons, pack your midday meal, and help the knights prepare themselves, too." Merlin nodded. "Yes, I know." Something occurred to him and he grinned. "But I don't have to saddle your horse; that's Kay's job now. How's he doing, by the way?"

"Better than you." Arthur smirked. "He's been working for me for hardly a fortnight and he's already better at mucking the stalls, taking care of the horses and having them ready when I want them than you ever were."

"Maybe that's because he doesn't also have to wash all your clothes after you've worn them once, clean up after you everywhere you go, scrub your floor twice a week, attend you at table three times a day, clean your sixteen pairs of boots, keep your armor and weapons in perfect condition at all times, make your bed and clean up your mess every morning, write your speeches for you – "

"Yes, thank you, Merlin." Arthur interrupted after sitting with an expression of boredom for the first part of his servant's monologue.

"And do just as much work for Gaius at the same time." Merlin was determined to have the last word.

The king rolled his eyes. "Go heat up my sausages."

* * *

A/N: Please please review! :D


	2. Chapter 2

Gaius glanced up as Merlin entered the room. "Sir Gwaine is suffering from the aftereffects of a night on the tavern."

" 'Course he is." The boy grinned. "That'll make him have almost as much fun on this hunting trip as I will."

"What remedy would you suggest?" The physician inquired with his infamous cocked eyebrow.

Merlin was used to questions like this; Gaius had been testing his memory of what he'd learned before his year away ever since he got back. "Ginger and honey. I'd brew him a really strong ginger tea and pour a lot of honey into it. And make him drink a _lot_ of water."

"Yes, that's what I thought." Gaius treated his ward to an approving smile.

"He'll still have a nasty headache by the time the hunt starts." Merlin commented.

"That's his own fault." The old man remarked. "Would you brew that tea, please?"

"I can get it started, but I've got to go in a couple of minutes." He crossed the room to dig a knotty ginger root out of the supply of them Gaius kept in a lined pot on one of the shelves.

"I don't suppose you'll be able to run a remedy into town for me, then?" Gaius commented. "I've prescribed a willow bark and horsetail concoction for a man and his wife who both suffer from severe arthritis. I meant to deliver them a new bottle of it this morning, but I haven't had time."

"I can't, sorry." Merlin took a knife from a drawer and began slicing up the ginger root. "I could do it tomorrow when I do all the other deliveries, though."

"That should be fine." The healer agreed. "Just don't forget."

"How much ginger should I put in here?" Merlin brushed the thinly-cut root off the cutting board into the mortar and started hammering it to pulp with the pestle.

"The more the better, but remember it's spicy. Don't put in more than you could drink yourself. And make sure you use plenty of honey."

"That counteracts the taste of the ginger and helps with the headache." Merlin knew this information automatically by now.

"Good." Gaius nodded approvingly. After a pause, he asked, "How are you settling in?"

"It's like nothing ever changed." His ward answered with a shrug. "I thought Arthur would treat me differently because of my magic and everything I've done, but most of the time he treats me just the same way he always has." With a wry grin, he added, "Like an idiot."

"He's back to his old self." Gaius said by way of agreement. "While you were away he was very lonely."

"He had Gwen and the knights and everybody else." Merlin put the pestle aside and began scraping the crushed ginger into a kettle.

"Yes, but he has a very unique friendship with you." The physician insisted. "He's not complete without you – he needs you."

Merlin had heard several variations of that phrase from several different people over the years since he'd first met Arthur. Every time someone unintentionally echoed the words the dragon had spoken to him so long ago, he was startled in spite of himself. Forgetting whatever it was he'd been about to say, he instead glanced at the sunlight falling through the window. "I'd better be off. I have to finish my work for Arthur and help the knights, too."

"Have a good time on the hunt." Gaius called as the boy headed out.

"When pigs fly." Merlin muttered, closing the door behind him.

* * *

A/N: Hey, readers. :) Thanks for reading...I know this section is shorter than most, but there's more on the way. That said, my updates are going to be a lot less frequent than they have been previously; school started this week and I have a lot of challenging classes this year, plus I'm juggling a job on top of that and trying to keep up with another writing project I'm doing. I promise I won't just drop this, but my updates are going to be annoyingly infrequent.

Also, to everyone who took the effort to review, thank you so much! You guys are the best. :) And thanks especially to VikingSong for taking the time to review every chapter! I really appreciate that so much. :D

And on that note... please review! Even if I've already posted more chapters or even finished this story, I still am grateful for reviews.


	3. Chapter 3

When Merlin reached the armory, where Arthur's inner circle of knights were getting ready for the hunt, he found himself entering the middle of a conversation about girls, or more specifically, the girl Sir Leon had been courting for the past three months; Lady Alixa, the daughter of a local viscount.

Gwaine, between grimacing sips from the tall thermos of ginger tea Gaius had given him, was complaining about the shortage of eligible young women in Camelot. "All the girls I meet end up being traitors or sorcerers."

Percival whacked the smaller man's shoulder; Gwaine groaned and dug his fingers into the side of his head. The massive knight took no notice, commenting instead, "Or married."

"Are you all on about this again?" Merlin grinned. "Don't you ever have anything to talk about other than girls?"

Off to the side, Mordred was settled against a table, listening to the conversation as he strapped on leather hunter's gauntlets. He shook his head, remarking, "They never do. This is all I've heard for a good year."

"Arthur's the only one who's not short on princesses and whatnot." Gwaine put in, rubbing his temples. "And he's already married."

"Yes, well, girls do tend to like you when you're rich and powerful and . . . king-ish." Merlin pointed out.

"Almost all of Alixa's friends are married." Leon told them.

"They're all older than us anyway, though." Percival shrugged. "The only unattached girls in the court are younger than we are."

With a smirk, Mordred observed, "That's not the sort of thing that usually discourages you."

"No," Percival agreed. "But I mean, you know, _younger_, not just younger."

"Your age." Gwaine contributed. "Definitely far too young for us."

The young knight took it in stride. "I'd rather be young than growing gray hairs like the rest of you."

"Gray hairs?" Leon repeated with an indignant half-smile.

"We're not even thirty yet!" Percival threw a glove at Mordred. "Except Leon, anyway. He's probably got some gray coming in under that beard."

"I'm only a few years older than you." The captain of the guard countered. He glanced sidelong at Merlin. "What about that friend of yours – the king's new stablehand's sister, right? Isn't she about your age?"

"Arthur has a new stablehand?" Gwaine questioned, taking a long swig of tea. "First I heard of it. You sure it's his sister, not his wife?"

"You mean Katera? Definitely _not_ Kay's wife." Merlin grinned at the thought.

"So she's unmarried?" Percival prodded.

The wizard raised an eyebrow. "Very."

"Are you seeing her?" Mordred asked, still leaning on the table as he girded on his belt.

"What?" Merlin laughed. "No."

"You sure about that?" Leon queried with a prying smile.

"She's not the girl for me." Merlin put on a grin.

Gwaine swatted the servant's elbow. "If she isn't, who is? C'mon, Merlin, I'm sure after ten years in Camelot you've found _someone_ who can put up with your tripping all over the place."

A hard, cold knot twisted in Merlin's chest. His smile faltered for just a second, but with an effort he kept it up, and after a brief pause he shrugged. "No, not me. I'm going to be forever a bachelor." He managed to push his smile wider as he added, "The rest of you are doomed to lives of marriage."

As was their way, the older knights didn't pay enough attention to Merlin to notice the sudden shift in demeanor that had hit him. Only Mordred, ever sensitive, had seen the merriment fade from the wizard's grin. His mind prodded at Merlin's; _Are you alright, Emrys?_

_Yes._

Mordred was no fool. Merlin's manner had changed when the knights prodded him about his own love life. _Was there a girl?_

_There was._ The wizard's thought was accompanied by a heavy thrill.

The three-second conversation was cut off as Gwaine commented, "Are you sure about that? I can see you being mother-henned by some grubby farm girl you picked up in the marketplace."

Merlin's face went scarlet; Gwaine was inadvertently insulting Freya. Misinterpreting the expression, the others were on him immediately, Leon grinning, "So you _do_ have a girl, hmm?"

"Come on, Merlin, a girl of your own and you never told us?" Percival shoved the wizard's shoulder good-naturedly, knocking him off balance. "Did you find a crazy half-wolf crawling around some cave in the valley of the fallen kings?"

The hot flush permeating the manservant's face intensified. Mordred tried to intervene. "I don't think – "

"There was a girl." Merlin assumed a sham grin. "A long time ago."

"Ohhh!" The three knights chorused as one, exchanging knowing smiles. "Why didn't we know about her?"

"I knew her before you." His grin belied the humorless tone of his voice.

"If you're not seeing her any more, is she married?" Percival questioned hopefully.

"No." Merlin shook his head. "She's gone."

Typical men, the knights still didn't realize where this was going. Mordred tried to intercede again, but Gwaine cut him off. "So, what, she got tired of you always running off after Arthur and left town?"

"No." His eyes crinkled in artificial amusement as his grin spread. "She was cursed, and Arthur tried to kill her, so she had to leave."

"Really, now?" Leon laughed heartily. "You know it's fine to admit that you have no love life, right, Merlin?"

"Merlin, a love life?" Arthur entered just in time to hear Leon's sally. "Have you been on the cider, Sir Leon?"

"What makes you think I haven't had a love life?" Merlin squared up to the king audaciously.

"Please, Merlin." Arthur rolled his eyes at Gwen as she entered the room behind him. "Do you hear this, Gwen? Merlin thinks he has a love life! Have you ever even kissed a girl, Merlin?"

"More than one." His servant confirmed, immensely satisfied.

"Really." Arthur was all disbelief. "Alright, then tell me this."

"What?"

"Who was your first kiss?"

There was a pause. Merlin's jaw flapped and his eyes darted around to everyone in the room but Gwen; she, for her part, was critically examining the tips of her shoes. The young wizard spluttered helplessly; it was definitely better to leave that question unanswered.

"That's what I thought." Arthur clapped him on the shoulder with a satisfied smile. "Some men are just fated never to fall in love, Merlin."

The wizard's agitation was replaced by that hard, heavy lump of indignation in the core of his chest. Arthur had no idea; Merlin had fallen irrevocably in love years ago.

Gwen made a hasty departure, muttering something about lunch. The king and his knights headed for the corridor which led out into the courtyard, Mordred brushing Merlin's arm sympathetically as he passed. After a pause, the young wizard did his best to shake off his gloom and loped after them.

* * *

A/N: and here it finally is. The plotline hasn't kicked in; the plot of this episode leaves enough space for you guys to see what's up with everyone after a year away, how Merlin's settling in, etc...just getting acquainted/reacquainted with the some of the characters and stuff. :) I'm having a hard time keeping everyone in character; let me know how you thought I did, and be honest. The other thing I'm having trouble writing is the somewhat semiformal way they talk; I usually write dialogue in an informal, modern way, so this is tricky for me.

Also, I'd just like to say...a lot of people have mentioned how in my S5E13 rewrite, the Sidhe apparently healed Arthur for free. Don't worry, guys, they have a price in mind; I haven't forgotten, but it's going to be a little while before they call it in. Be patient! :D

Please review! :D More coming when I get the chance, but it'll probably be a couple weeks.


	4. Chapter 4

"Beating." Merlin complained aloud, not that Arthur was listening. "I'd rather do _anything_. Scrubbing pots . . . getting amputations . . . drowning kittens . . . _anything_ but beating!"

He scowled at the king's back from where he was loping a few steps behind the hunters' horses. The rest of the beaters were spread throughout the woods around them, doing their best to rustle up anything that might interest Arthur and the knights.

Gwaine, riding a few paces behind the knights, downed a swig of ginger tea from the canteen of it Gaius had provided him with and grimaced, commenting to Merlin, "I'd be a beater for you if you'd magic away this headache."

For a second, Merlin was startled; Gwaine didn't know about his magic. Then the knight gave a wan grin, and the wizard realized he'd been making a joke. "Or you could just knock me out till it goes away."

"That would just give you a worse headache, you know, little man." Percival put in from ahead of Gwaine.

"Sire!" One of the outermost beaters appeared through the trees, waving an arm as he dashed toward them. "I've spotted deer!"

"Show us where." Arthur spurred his horse into a trot as the beater, a short middle-aged man with a heedful of curly black hair, swung around and ran back the way he'd come. The knights fell in behind Arthur and Merlin jogged after them, keeping close.

A ways out from where the beater had spotted the deer, the hunters dismounted and moved forward more stealthily, though their heavy crossbows and boots seemed loud and clumsy to Merlin, who had years of practice gliding swiftly and silently through the woods.

When he spotted the deer, two small fallow does, Arthur directed the knights out to either side, circling their quarry so their chances of escape were diminished. He waited until Leon moved into sight opposite him, signaling that the hunters were all ready to shoot.

Arthur carefully took aim and let fly; his arrow hit home behind the nearer deer's shoulder. The doe screamed and tried to take a step as it fell; the other began to bolt, but three arrows flew out of the tree cover; one missed, another hit its flank, and a third found its mark from directly in front of the deer, bringing her down instantly.

The knights broke cover, exchanging triumphant grins. Mordred approached the deer Arthur had felled, putting another arrow in it to be sure it wasn't suffering; then they retrieved their shafts and passed them off to Merlin to be cleaned, with the exception of Leon's, which had been broken when the deer came down on it.

Two servants took the carcasses and disappeared with them, back in the direction of the packhorses that had been brought to carry the hunters' game.

The beater who had spotted the deer fell into step beside Merlin as Arthur and his men remounted. "Need some help cleaning those arrows?"

"Oh, no, I can do it. Thank you, though." Merlin gave him an amiable smile.

"No, really." The man glanced toward the knights with a wry grin. "I'd love to take a break from beating."

"That makes both of us." Merlin passed him two of the arrows. "I'm Merlin, by the way."

"Yes, I know who you are." The man gave another dry smile as they shook hands. "You've made a bit of a reputation for yourself as the only servant who's been able to stay in Arthur's employment more than a month. I'm Matthan. You're Gaius' apprentice, too, right?"

"Yes; you know him?" Merlin questioned curiously.

"Not well." He shrugged. "He's been keeping my wife and I supplied with something that helps ease the pains we get from our arthritis."

"Oh, he mentioned you earlier, I think." The wizard nodded. "Is the arthritis very bad?"

"I can't speak for my wife, but I know I get severe pains without Gaius' remedy."

"That's too bad." As he scrubbed the gore from an arrowhead with the rag he kept in his pouch for such purposes, Merlin frowned sympathetically; his thoughts drifted to the soreness he felt in his aged form. "Arthritis can be terrible."

"Yes." The curly-haired beater agreed. "But usually it's not too awful, thanks to your uncle."

"I'm glad he can help." The boy glanced up. Matthan didn't look like the sort of fellow one might expect to suffer from arthritis; he seemed rather robust and healthy, with a dark tan and bright, intelligent blue eyes under his dense, dark hair. He was probably only five to ten years older than Merlin. That thought made the wizard grimace; hopefully he wouldn't be getting arthritis at that age.

"It's usually worse for my wife Jeneen than for me." Matthan told him as he wiped the last spot of blood off his second arrow. "The remedy doesn't work as well for her as it does for me."

"That's odd." Merlin responded, examining his arrow. "I don't see why the same remedy shouldn't work just as well on both of you. I'll mention it to Gaius; maybe he can make it stronger."

"That would be wonderful." Matthan handed over the two arrows he'd been cleaning. "Here you go. Better get these back to the knights."

Merlin nodded agreement, adding apologetically, "And you should probably get back to beating."

"I know." He tipped a casual salute off his brow. "Good to meet you, Merlin."

"And you." The young wizard called after Matthan as he jogged back toward his position.

* * *

A/N: Guys, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get this up. But the good news is, the stage is now set! The story is in motion! Well, it sort of has been, but...whatever. I'm trying to make you guys think this installment is a big deal. Which it is kind of important, but...

Anyway, once again, I apologize for the wait. I hope you guys haven't forgotten me. :/ Please review, even if you don't have much to say or I've posted the next chapter! The only reason this is up is because I got a couple of late reviews and they motivated me to get my rear in gear on this (thanks, Hocapontas. :D And yes, I'm hoping to pay some attention to the relationship between Merlin and Mordred). Also, just for the record, EvaTodd, you probably don't even remember reviewing, but I really appreciated your commentary on the Arthur/Merlin/knights dynamic.

Can't promise when the next installment will be up, but I'll try to make it sooner than this one was.


	5. Chapter 5

Arthur handed the reins over to Merlin. "Take him down to the stable, would you?"

His servant nodded; then Gwaine's reins slapped into his other hand. "Can you take Fledge, too?" The knight turned away to follow Arthur up the steps before Merlin could respond, calling over his shoulder, "Thanks!"

"I guess you're over that headache." The wizard commented at the Gwaine's retreating back.

Mordred dismissed the servant who reached for his horse's bridle; Merlin had noticed, since he'd been back, that the young knight tried to make a habit of caring for his own horse. Percival and Leon both passed their horses on to the attendants and headed for the armory to put away their weapons and get out of their hunting gear.

Merlin fell into step beside Mordred, horses in tow, as they followed the servants toward the stables. They sauntered along in companionable silence until they reached the stable, at which point Merlin took leave of the nineteen-year-old knight, handed Gwaine's gray over to another stablehand and led Arthur's horse toward the king's personal wing of the stable.

Kay was mucking out one of the sixteen stalls in the royal wing; he left what he was doing to relieve Merlin of the horse and lead it into the stall adjacent to the one he'd been working in. "How did the hunt go?"

Merlin took over the mucking Kay had been doing as they conversed. "Not much worse than they usually are."

"Well, that's good." As he undid the girth, Kay turned his head to look at Merlin from his left eye – the right was covered by a patch.

"How were things back here?" The wizard questioned.

"Same as ever." He smiled. "By the way, Terra is really happy to be working for the queen. Thank you for getting her that position."

"Least I could do." Merlin grinned back, tossing a scoop of manure into the wheelbarrow. "Must be strange for the two of you; both with regular jobs, and all."

"It's the first time in a couple years we've actually settled in anywhere." Kay nodded, hanging the girth over the stall gate and running a grimy hand through his tawny red hair. "Not that we're quite settled in yet, but we're getting used to the daily routine."

"Do you like it?" Merlin paused to lean on the pitchfork.

"A lot." His friend assured him. "Both of us having regular salaries is a pleasant change."

"You can thank Gwen – sorry, I mean Queen Guinevere. But you can thank her for that. If it was left to Arthur, he'd forget to pay any of us." Merlin grinned ruefully.

"Does he pay you?" Kay questioned.

"Not nearly enough." The wizard snorted. "For all I put up with, I get paid less than you. That's because I live with Gaius, though," He added frankly. "I don't have to pay for almost anything to support myself."

"That must be convenient." The younger man grunted, lifting the saddle to hang it over the rack.

Merlin shrugged, scooping another shovelful of manure into the barrow. "Usually. Except when I'm trying to keep up with my duties for Arthur and juggle my work with Gaius, too."

"Well, it's good to be busy." Kay remarked. "I like digging manure all day in here better than I did doing nothing all day like I did when we were wandering."

"Those were good times, though." Merlin pointed out. "At least when I was with you, I rather enjoyed just wandering."

"That's probably because your normal life is so hectic, that was a nice change." Kay commented. "When it's all you ever do, though, it gets old."

Merlin nodded silent agreement with that. Yes, his life had definitely been insane before his voluntary banishment. He'd been homesick, but traveling with Kay and Katera before they fell in with the slavers _had_ been an agreeable change. Now that he was back and he didn't have to obsessively worry about the threat of Morgana, his life was comparatively normal. Still hectic, certainly, but less . . . frenetic.

"You should come visit us sometime." Kay suggested. "I always go home in the afternoon and the Lady Guinevere gives Terra every other evening off, so you could come have supper with us one of those nights."

"You mean I should come on one of _my_ evenings off?" Merlin rejoined dryly. "Oh – wait. I don't have any."

"When _do _you have time off?" His friend questioned.

"When I decide to." The wizard grinned. "Half the time Arthur doesn't even notice; the other half he considers firing me."

"Ah." Kay was in the process of rubbing the king's steed down. "He seems like an unusual employer."

"His only qualification is that he's king." Merlin laughed, then grimaced as he dug a particularly odious clump of manure from under the straw. "I think you've missed this one a few times, Kay. It smells like it's been here for several days."

"Lovely." The stablehand ran a hand through his hair, leaving short, coarse horse hairs that had been sticking to his hands entrapped in it. Then, as though he'd noticed for the first time that Merlin was doing his job, he told him, "You can leave that for me. I'll finish it up as soon as I feed Tuck."

"Tuck?" Merlin repeated. "The king's horse is named Tuck? Doesn't sound very, you know, king's horse-y, to me."

"None of them have names, as far as I know." Kay shrugged. "So I gave them nicknames. Arthur can change them if he wants."

"He could care less." The wizard smirked, then backtracked. "But I don't mind mucking for you. It's been a good year since I mucked any of these stalls out. I almost miss it. Almost," He repeated quickly. "Not that I want to have the opportunity to stop missing it."

"I don't know." Kay grinned. "You have to love the smell of a stable. A horses' stable, I mean, not a barn. I love the smell of horses."

"Whatever you say." Merlin raised an eyebrow. "As long as you don't fall asleep in their manure, the smell isn't too overpowering. Trust me, I would know."

"You mean to say you've actually fallen asleep in manure?" Kay laughed.

"Oh, yes." The dark-haired manservant replied, grave-faced. "But it was Arthur's fault." He changed the subject. "What's Terra said about working for the queen?"

"She told me Lady Guinevere's very considerate." Kay answered.

"Well, she was a servant herself, so she knows how it can be." Merlin pointed to the wheelbarrow with the pitchfork. "Where do you dump this?"

"You can just leave it outside the stall; I still have a couple more to muck out." Kay turned his head to glance toward his friend out his good eye. "If you'll give Tuck his grain, I'll take care of that."

"Here you go, then." Merlin extended the pitchfork haft-first. "Does he get just one scoop?"

"One and a half." Kay corrected, twirling the pitchfork lightly around his body into his other hand.

"Where'd you learn that?" The wizard watched him inquisitively.

"Oh." The younger of the two shrugged. "My father trained me to fight with a quarterstaff."

"Really?" Curiosity piqued, Merlin paused beside the grain bin. "Can you still do it?"

"More or less." Kay responded diffidently. "I hadn't practiced for a while when we were traveling with you, but since we moved here I've been back at it."

"Show me a bit." Merlin grinned, digging a scoop of grain from the bucket and heading for Tuck's stall.

"Well . . ."

"Oh, come on, Kay – just a bit." The wizard wheedled.

"No, really. It doesn't work very well with something like this anyway." He hefted the pitchfork. "It's too short, and the fork on one end unbalances it. You probably have to get back to Arthur anyway."

"Oh . . . right." Merlin grimaced. "Time got away from me. He'll want me to clean his hunting kit and boots and have his dinner to his room and get a fire going because the room'll be cold since he's been gone all day . . ." He grinned. "So you're right, I should go. I'll try to drop by sometime when I get a chance."

"See you then." Kay leaned the pitchfork on the wall and relieved Merlin of the scoop.

"Don't think I'm going to forget, though!" Merlin grinned over his shoulder as he loped away. "I want to see a really good quarterstaff performance one of these days!"

* * *

A/N: Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, after only ten days! ...I say that like it's a good thing... 1400 words in 10 days isn't really good at all... but it's way better than the gap before part 4, so hey! Improvement, here. :)

Anyway, guys, please review! Huge thanks to Mizzymel, Linorien, Mersan and EvaTodd for reviewing the last chapter! Especially to Mizzy, for being honest about it; the critical reviews are the ones that I appreciate most. Thanks, guys! Hope to hear from you on this chapter, too. The rest of you... please review, as always. ;)


	6. Chapter 6

"What did you do while you were away?"

Merlin glanced up at Arthur, surprised. The king had been sitting at the head of the table in contemplative silence while his servant filled his plate from the various trays set out before him.

"Sire?" The wizard questioned.

"Sit down." Arthur tipped his chin to the chair Merlin was standing beside.

Now truly startled, Merlin obeyed. In all the ten years he'd served the king, Arthur had _never_ invited him to sit at table with him. Even if a servant was a noble's close friend, it just wasn't done.

Arthur picked up the drumstick Merlin had chosen for him from the roast chicken which the kitchen had provided for the king's dinner. Examining it meditatively, he asked once more, "During the months you were gone – what did you do?"

"I visited my mother . . ." Merlin said slowly.

"But that wasn't the whole time." Arthur shook his head. "I went to Ealdor when I came looking for you, and they told me you had only been there for, what was it, a fortnight or something like that?" He took a bite of the chicken leg. "And you said you were with the slavers for two months, and before that you traveled with Kay and his sister – what's her name?"

"Katera." Merlin supplied.

"Right. You traveled with them for how long, again?"

There was no _again_ to it; Merlin hadn't told Arthur quite how long he'd actually been with Terra and Kay. "A bit more than two months. I met them just after I left Ealdor."

"And the three of you just wandered." Arthur nodded broodingly. "But what did you do between when you left here and when you visited Ealdor?"

The truth was that Merlin had done a lot during those months. He had hunted down those that remained of Morgana's allies with strong magic who might rise against Arthur. He had served as a healer in one or two smaller towns and helped to drive off the bands of Saxons that had scattered across the countryside after their defeat at Camlann. The main thing he had done, though, was seek out Aithusa. Finding the young dragon had been one matter; Merlin, being a dragonlord, had summoned him easily enough. The challenge had been to find him some place to live, far from any humans, where he could grow and recover without being discovered and hunted.

However, Merlin didn't want his friend to know the part about Aithusa. Arthur was still unaware of all Merlin's interactions with Kilgharrah, most notably the fact that the young wizard had been the one to free the dragon. Considering the disaster and massive number of deaths that the dragon had caused upon his release, it was completely reasonable for Arthur to think dragons were absolutely evil. No matter what Merlin might say to the contrary, he knew the king wouldn't believe that Kilgharrah, or any dragon, wasn't a threat to Camelot. There was no way Arthur would condone his longtime companion helping a dragon.

With that in mind, the wizard told half of the truth. "I searched out a few of Morgana's followers with the strongest magic to be sure they wouldn't try to carry on her cause, and I helped some of the outlying towns with Saxon marauders."

"Hm." Whatever curiosity had been tugging at Arthur was placated by this. He took another bite of his chicken leg. "Aren't you hungry?"

Merlin eyed his friend dubiously, half certain that the king was having a laugh. "Sire?"

"Go on, then, Merlin, eat something." Arthur waved his drumstick generously at the spread Merlin had carried up from the kitchens; it was easily big enough to feed a family of five.

Still a bit suspicious, the manservant helped himself to a roll from the plate of them in front of him. His mistrust was allayed after a moment, as Arthur gave no indication that he was pulling Merlin's leg.

They ate in silence until the king spoke again. "Merlin . . ."

"Yes?" The wizard paused in the middle of a sliced and roasted tomato.

"I don't . . ." Arthur frowned, swirling his wineglass as he tried to put his thoughts into words. "This isn't – I mean, what you're doing now, being my servant, it isn't . . . I don't know, good enough for you."

"What d'you mean by that?" Merlin leaned on the edge of the table.

"Merlin, _literally_ anything you wanted to be – _anything, _Merlin – you could be it. You could be my chief advisor, or a knight, a lord or a baron or grand minister of the palace, master physician, or a judge, or, I don't know, royal speech writer – "

"I already write all your speeches for you anyway," The younger of the two pointed out with a small grin.

"Not _all_ of them," Arthur countered defensively. "But I mean, officially. You could have anything you wanted, Merlin. I could give you land and money and power. I don't think you realize just exactly how much you're sacrificing to be – to be this, what you are. A _servant_."

"I'm not sacrificing anything, sire." Merlin forked a bite of tomato into his mouth. "You act like I'm doing this for you, not because I want to." He considered, then amended, "Not that I always want to. But this is what I love, Arthur. It's not always easy, but working with you and Gaius and the knights is what makes me happy." He grinned, twirling his fork. "I'm not like you and Leon and the others; I grew up without grand ambitions and heavy responsibilities and all that. Maybe you find power and rank rewarding, but they'd only make me miserable."

Arthur took a long sip of his wine, staring pensively at the flickering candles. "That's deep of you."

"Plus, as your manservant, it's easier for me to keep track of what's going on in the castle and around the city. If I was grand – what did you say, grand chief advisor?"

"Something like that." The king smiled.

Merlin nodded dryly. "If I was something high-ranking like that, with big responsibilities and all that nonsense, I wouldn't be able to do my real job."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at him. "Your _real_ job?"

"Taking care of you. Taking care of Camelot." He shrugged. "Being your servant and Gaius' assistant, it's easy to go wherever I need to."

"Have it your way." His blond friend bit off another chunk of meat. "I'd have to find a new manservant, anyway, if I promoted you." He chewed the chicken for several seconds, then swallowed it and said abruptly, "I'm sorry I left you out there so long."

"Left me where?"

"I mean, after you left, I should have come to find you much sooner than I did." He put the drumstick down on his plate and shifted his position, putting both feet up on the seat opposite Merlin and leaning on the arm of his own chair. Guilt glittered in his eyes. "I let you wander for almost a year, Merlin!"

His manservant shrugged softly. Arthur scowled. "You keep insisting it's alright, but I know better. I'm just so sorry, Merlin." The profoundness behind his apology set the wizard's eyes stinging, though he hid it as Arthur continued, "I'm sorry it took me so long to see you deserved better."

Merlin did his best to grin. "Well, if I tell you I accept your apology, can we agree the subject is resolved and forget about it?"

The king gave a short laugh. "Fair enough. Have the other drumstick, Merlin."

His friend obliged cheerfully, remarking, "Apologizing _and_ sharing your dinner! Who are you and where have you put Arthur?" He grinned. "Wherever you put him, let's keep him there. You're much more generous than he is."

"Hilarious." The monarch tossed a chopped piece of carrot at his servant. "Try asking for a day off and you'll see how generous I am."

Merlin obliged immediately. "Can I have the day off tomorrow?"

"No." Arthur responded shortly, with a severe expression but a grin in his eyes. "You're feeling too privileged already. Just because I let you have some of my supper doesn't mean you're getting a raise or having your chores cut back or anything ridiculous like that." He reached for the knife on the chicken platter, intending to cut himself a slice of meat, but his arm knocked his wine glass over and it ran across the table, spreading a red stain into the flawless white tablecloth and drizzling into the king's royal-robed lap.

Smiling as Arthur cursed himself out, Merlin cleared his throat. "Looks like that jerkin will have to go."

The king gave him a pained look. "This is my favorite jerkin!"

"I know." Merlin agreed smugly. "Tell you what, though . . ."

He leaned over and waved a hand over the stain down Arthur's front; it vanished with a flash of his eyes.

"Mer_lin_!" The king exclaimed.

"Well, it's your favorite jerkin." The dark-haired wizard held his hands up reasonably.

"Look." As he spoke, Arthur unlaced the jerkin and tossed it to the floor to get it out of the way of any other unfortunate spills. Merlin couldn't help grimacing; he would have to iron that out later. "Merlin, I understand that you and your magic are good. But the people of Camelot hate magic, Merlin, they _hate_ it. After Morgana and everything she did, they'd burn anyone at the stake – even me, if I had magic."

"Good thing you don't, then." The wizard commented.

"I'm trying to cut back the punishments on magic users, Merlin." The king settled back in his chair with a sigh. "It's going slowly, but my approach is working. I've eliminated death for using magic under almost all circumstances, and I've been gradually lessening the other penalties on magicians, too."

"I know." Merlin set the king's empty glass upright once more and reached for the wine jar to refill it.

"I have a plan to _eventually_ bring about legalization of magic. In some cases, anyway." Arthur continued. "I have to whittle the laws down a bit at a time, and if I go too fast, the people will fight back. But the thing is, Merlin, while my laws still forbid magic – even if I'm planning to get rid of them – I can't have magic openly practiced in my presence. As king, I have to respect my own laws; I'm ignoring them by not punishing you for using magic." He shook his head, frustrated. "It's not right for me to disobey my own laws, Merlin! It's not right for you to put me in that position."

"I know." The wizard repeated gloomily.

"You have my word that I'm doing everything in my power to get rid of the laws against magic." The king took a sip from his refilled wine glass. "But if I move too fast on this, my subjects won't stand for it. I have to change their hearts, Merlin, not just their laws. And the other kingdoms' aggression toward magic certainly doesn't improve the attitude the people of Camelot have." He sighed. "After Morgana, all the five kingdoms are more averse to magic than ever before."

"I heard there was a magician executed in Mercia a few days ago." Merlin commented.

"Yes, that's what the report we got yesterday morning said." The king nodded. "It was bizarre, even for a situation involving magic. The wizard was notorious for using animals – he would take over their bodies with his mind. He could even make some of them talk, or so I was told. All the animals he had taken possession of were burned with him."

"That's terrible." Merlin leaned his head on his hand. "They should have waited to see if his control would leave them once he had died."

"The soldier who brought the report seemed to think that their bodies became his when he look them over, so he could have kept living in _any_ of their bodies after he was burned; he wasn't tied to his original human body."

Merlin sat up, exhaling loudly. "Well, now that we've filled our sad and serious conversation quotas for the next three years, can we talk about something less horrible, please?"

"Sorry." Arthur ran a hand through his hair. "The execution of magicians like that one is a familiar subject for me."

"Me too, unfortunately." Merlin shook his head. "Think of it like this; wouldn't it upset you if you knew there was a king-killing spree going around?"

His friend grinned. "You make a good point."

"Yes, I do." Merlin agreed. "Changing the subject now . . ."

* * *

A/N: Guys... I was so happy. The day after I posted part 5 (the part before this one), I opened my inbox and I had FIVE NEW REVIEWS. Guys... I never get five reviews in less than 24 hours. That made my day! Chocolate and fudge for everyone who's reviewed recently. For the record, to all the people who follow or favorite but don't review... I do still appreciate your support, but I'd appreciate it even more if you'd post a review, even if all you have to say is that you read it and you liked it (or didn't). Really, the whole reason I post this stuff is for the reviews.

So, that being said, I'd like to address some of the feedback I'm getting from my reviewers. There are a couple of main things that people aren't liking, the biggest one being that the dynamic between Arthur and Merlin hasn't changed, Arthur hasn't given Merlin some kind of recognition, promotion, public acknowledgement, or something, and (this was before I posted this chapter, of course) it seemed like Arthur had "forgotten" about Merlin's magic. Some people aren't thrilled about the fact that I have Merlin back to the same old same old, doing the same thing he's always been doing. I hope this chapter helped clear the air on that stuff. Let me know if it did. If you guys still have any issues I'll try to work in a solution or explanation at some point. :)

Basically, what I'm trying to express through Arthur and Merlin is that Arthur has completely accepted Merlin as he is, but because of the people's understandable hostility to magic he can't just come out and give Merlin the recognition he deserves. Arthur wants to reward Merlin for everything he's done, but he has to change the hearts of the people first, which will take time. He's working on it. There, in a hundred words or less, is the basic point it took me 2000 words to explain in this chapter. :D

Another thing I've been hearing is that people want to see more interaction with Merlin/Gwen, Merlin/Gwaine or the knights in general. That's all coming, don't worry. I want more of that stuff too, but I mean, I can't fit everything I want into one episode if I still want room for a plot. I'm going to try to show more of that over the course of the next few episodes. I promise it'll happen. And maybe Gwaine, and possibly the other knights, will be let in on Merlin's secret. Maybe. No promises for that one. :)

Also, EvaTodd predicted that Kay would become a knight. I'm not going to confirm or deny that, but I'll just say this; if you know your traditional Arthurian legends, one of the knights of the Round Table was called Kay... :)

Any other issue, questions, stuff you want to see, etc? Let me know in your reviews, guys! I'll try to address them in the episodes, or if I won't have the chance, I'll explain to you in my author's notes. Speaking of which, this particular footnote has been almost as long as the chapter itself... :P

Oh, also, for the record, the idea for the awkward scene with Gwen about Merlin's first kiss wasn't entirely an original idea of mine. I read something similar in another fanfic (if I could remember what it was called I'd refer you guys to it), and I thought it was so great that I kind of copied it a tiny bit... :}


	7. Chapter 7

The afternoon of the next day, Gaius was feeling achier than usual, particularly in one knee that had been stiff ever since he tripped on the stairs to Merlin's room during the months that his ward had been away. Merlin persuaded Arthur to give him a couple of hours off to make the physician's rounds of the city so Gaius could rest.

It certainly took more than a couple of hours; by the end of the time Arthur had allowed him, Merlin was only half way through Gaius' rounds, having diagnosed various sicknesses and promised that remedies would be delivered the following day, splinted a fractured knee, dropped off a remarkable number of ongoing medications, and helped a cat deliver its kittens (yes, apparently that was one of the duties of a physician), and he still had several homes to visit.

One of the few of these remaining visits that he was looking forward to was to the home of the beater he'd met on the hunt, Matthan. Gaius provided the man and his wife with a fresh bottle of tonic for their arthritis every week. Merlin was hoping to follow up on his promise to see if a stronger remedy could be prescribed for Matthan's wife.

When the older man opened the door, though, the rush of delicious aroma that enveloped Merlin pushed everything else to the borders of the wizard's mind. He questioned spontaneously, "What _is_ that?"

A grin split Matthan's face. "Jeneen's just finished cooking a batch of rhubarb pies."

The way he said it, Merlin envisioned a dozen pies set out to cool like cookies on a tray. He had to blink hard to bring himself back to his senses, trying not to inhale the mouth-watering smell. "Gaius sent me to bring you your remedy."

"Oh – thanks." Matthan relieved him of the bottle. "Would you like to come in for a moment? I'd love to introduce you to Jeneen, if you don't mind."

"I've got a few minutes." Merlin grinned, although he didn't really. He was already running an hour late. But he couldn't help hoping he might be offered a slice of one of those divine-smelling pies.

"Come on in, then." Matthan smiled broadly, stepping aside to admit the young wizard.

As Merlin left the bright late-afternoon light, the somewhat dimmer interior of the house became more plainly visible. A short woman with long, curly brown hair was standing by the table, carefully sliding a knife through one of the two rhubarb pies that were set out steaming on the table.

"This is my wife Jeneen." Matthan introduced her. "Jen, this is Merlin. He's the boy I was telling you about who I met on the hunt yesterday."

"Yes, I remember." She treated Merlin to a brilliant smile. "Pleasure to meet you, young man."

The possibility of a taste of pie had Merlin on better manners than being in the presence of any high-ranking nobleman could. He smiled back at Jeneen. "The pleasure is all mine, ma'am."

"Would you like a slice of pie?" She offered.

He grinned wryly, admitting, "I was hoping you'd ask that."

Matthan slapped Merlin on the shoulder. "I told you he was a charmer."

"A what?" The young wizard questioned with a mystified smile.

"Sit down, the both of you." Jeneen spoke with a very light brogue. "The pie's fresh out of the oven, so it's too hot to eat, but it should cool down quickly." She produced three plates from a cupboard by the stove and shoveled generous portions of the hot, viscous pie onto each. Sliding one to Merlin, she warned, "Don't try it right away; it'll scald your mouth."

"I'll get us a glass of milk to go down with it." Matthan proposed, crossing the kitchen to the corner counter, where the milk jug stood beside a set of tin cups.

"That's alright," Merlin tried to assure the older man, but Matthan had his back to him as he prepared the glasses and didn't seem to hear him. "I don't want to be taking your milk."

"Oh, please." Jeneen smiled broadly at him as she eased herself into a chair with her own slice of pie. "Nothing goes better with hot rhubarb pie than a bit of milk."

Matthan returned a moment later, carrying three cups precariously in his hands, and set them down on the table before sliding one over to Merlin. "Give it a try."

The wizard took a polite experimental sip. He had to admit, it was some of the best milk he could remember tasting. He took a deep draught of it.

"This is sweet milk," He commented, downing another gulp. "Where do you buy it?"

"A farmer that lives somewhere outside the city." Matthan watched Merlin tip his cup back once more. "He sells it in the market square every few days."

"You'll have to introduce me." Merlin remarked, suddenly discovering that he'd reached the bottom of his drink. It was a smaller cup than it had seemed at first. But that short drink had his head buzzing. It was _really_ exceptional milk . . .

"I'd love to." Matthan nodded, breaking a bit off the crust of his pie and nibbling it. "He's an older fellow, but his sons work with him to keep up with all the goats."

"This is goat milk?" Merlin frowned; he had to concentrate to form the words, like his lips and throat didn't want to cooperate. "It didn't taste like goat milk."

"I thought he said he bred goats." The dark-haired man shrugged, keeping his gaze fixed sideways on Merlin as the boy leaned heavily on the edge of the table, raising his hand clumsily to his head. "Maybe he said cows, though . . ."

Something was wrong. Merlin was still thinking clearly, but he was feeling a strange disconnect with his body, as though he were losing command of it. He was beginning to feel like he was trapped inside himself, unable to do anything but watch and listen through eyes and ears that weren't his.

There was a long pause as Matthan and his wife eyed the young wizard. It was broken by Jeneen; "Did it work?"

_Did what work?_ Merlin wondered, but he found himself unable to speak the question aloud; he was completely unable to control himself even so much as to move his hands.

"Looks like it." Matthan frowned at his guest. "It usually only takes a minute to take over the system." He sat forward experimentally. "Merlin, stand up."

Merlin was helpless to control himself; his body stood of its own volition.

He could feel magic soaking through him, he realized. He hadn't noticed it until now because it was resonantly subtle. It had taken physical control of him, leaving his mind trapped in a body controlled by someone else.

"Merlin, I think you can still hear me and see me." Matthan rose from his chair to remain in the center of Merlin's unchanging field of vision. "There's no need for you to be afraid. Jeneen and I just need you to do something for us."

Merlin focused on the magic inside him. It felt like it would fade after a while, but he might be able to speed that process up by wearing it down with his own powers.

Meanwhile, Matthan continued, "We need you to bring us the key King Arthur uses to get into the vaults."

That was not good. Merlin tried to fight back, but his body turned stiffly and headed for the door.

Retrieving the key was easy, even for a body operating with no creativity of its own to rely on. Within half an hour, he was back at the middle-aged couple's door, key securely in hand. Having determined that he couldn't overcome the magic that had him subjected to Matthan's control, Merlin was putting all his energy into eroding it from within to speed up the fading process. Coming out of his trance sooner than they expected might give him the opportunity to foil whatever plot these two were about to put into action.

"Thank you, Merlin." Jeneen relieved him of the key.

Her husband directed the king's servant toward one of the chairs at the kitchen table. "The drug that's working on you will wear off in about four hours, Merlin."

Four hours. He should be able to purge it from his system in one hour. That would give him a three-hour window to alert Arthur to what was happening.

"All we want is one thing from the vaults; we'll bring the key back and leave it here for you once we've retrieved what we need." Matthan assured him. "You'll probably be able to get it back to Arthur without him ever knowing it was missing." He shrugged. "You can avoid trouble and sneak it back into place if you want to, or you can tell him what we've done; it makes no difference to us. We'll be safely gone by the time the magic in you wears off."

With that, they donned cloaks and were gone. Merlin sat dumbly at the kitchen table, mentally straining to carve down the drug's influence on his system. If its control over normal people lasted four hours, he knew his magical abilities could quarter that time.

Fifteen minutes' walk to the castle, he calculated mentally as he strove with the magic controlling his body. Fifteen minutes back to leave the key here. So to be back to their house before Merlin had freed himself from their magic, they would have to get into the castle unseen and find their way down to the vaults, knock out the guards and find whatever they were looking for within half an hour. That much work would probably take them more than an hour, though, so Merlin would probably have plenty of time to alert Arthur once he was free of the drug.

After an hour sitting like a statue, staring straight ahead, Merlin managed to force the last of the magic out of him. Feeling sick, he tested his legs; he succeeded in standing, but wobbled unsteadily and had to support himself against the table. He took a moment to breathe deeply, then limped toward the door. Hopefully this residual weakness would fade quickly; he needed to get to the castle as soon as possible.

It didn't fade, though; the walk to the castle took twenty minutes, then he spent an additional five trying to find Arthur. He ended up bursting into the king's courtroom in the middle of a hearing of some official document. Gripping the door handle to steady himself, Merlin called across the ten or so assembled lords and knights, "Sire!"

Scowling, Arthur detached himself from the group. "What do you want, Merlin? This is a really terrible time."

"Someone's breaking into the vaults." He panted. "They used some magic drug to make me steal your key. It's been almost an hour; you have to hurry or they'll get away!"

The king's irritation transformed to urgent concern. "Do you know what the drug was? Are you alright now?"

"I'm fine!" Merlin brushed Arthur's hand away. "You need to cut off the exits from the vaults!"

"Right." Remembering that several of his advisors were watching, Arthur stepped back, glancing at the three knights in the room. "Leon, Mordred, Dane – with me."

They swept out of the room; Merlin followed close on their heels, one hand to the wall for support. He was feeling sick to his stomach, but he wanted to be there when Matthan and Jeneen were apprehended; if they had used magic on him, they might have more tricks up their sleeves for the knights, and in that case Merlin would have to protect Arthur and his men. Again.

They weren't a moment too soon; the two thieves were coming back up the stairs as the king and knights reached the top of them. As the four warriors started toward them, Matthan and Jeneen spun around and started back down.

Merlin stopped against the railing at the top of the stairs. His eyes flashed golden; the two fugitives lost their footing and tumbled headlong down the last five stairs. The wizard saw something small fly out of Matthan's hand and skitter across the floor until it bumped into the wall.

Apparently none of the knights had noticed it; as they hauled Matthan and Jeneen to their feet, relieving the former of the key, none of them stepped across the room to pick up the small object in the shadow of the torch.

Merlin stayed where he was as the thieves were marched back up the stairs. Nobody paid attention to him leaning on the rail as they passed, and in a moment they had gone. He made his way down the stairs and crouched beside the thing Matthan had dropped.

It was a small set of reed pipes painted with senseless white markings. Though it didn't look like anything much, Merlin felt a thrill in his fingertips when he touched it; this was a magical artifact.

* * *

A/N: what did you think? Please review! Even if you don't have anything to say, just tell me if you liked it or hated it or whatever. It doesn't matter what it says, getting a review always makes my day.

Also, how am I doing with keeping Arthur and Merlin in character? It was easy for my alternate S5 ending, and the first episode of this season, but the longer I go the harder it seems to be getting. Please let me know if I did okay! And if they seemed out of character to you, please let me know why so I can try to avoid doing that in the future.


	8. Chapter 8

Two hours later, after Arthur had made sure that Merlin was alright and Gaius had made doubly sure, the young wizard was finally left to himself again. He was itching to confront Matthan and Jeneen and figure out why they had raided the vaults.

A few sleep spells got him to their cell. They didn't notice him until he stopped in front of the doors, arms folded. "What did you two think you were doing?"

Both jumped to their feet, startled by his sudden appearance. He stared unblinkingly at them until Matthan uncomfortably shifted from one foot to the other, commenting, "You have magic."

Merlin hid his surprise. "What?"

"The drug we used on you couldn't have faded so quickly on its own."

"I'm not the one answering questions." Unsure whether to deny his powers or admit to them, Merlin decided to just ignore the statement. "What were you doing?"

The two exchanged glances, then a resigned shrug. Matthan moved closer to the bars. "We were looking for a set of pipes King Uther put in his vaults when he outlawed magic."

Keeping his expression unimpressed, Merlin leaned back on the wall, waiting for the older man to continue; he did so after a moment. "You see, Merlin, we aren't humans. Uther meant to kill us, but to do so he had to trap us in human form first, because in our natural form we could not be killed by any mortal weapon. He thought we were burned once he trapped us in these bodies, but we escaped. Our pipes were shut away in the vaults, though, so we were trapped in this form."

"What do the pipes have to do with anything?" Merlin scowled.

"They are the connection between us and the human world." Jeneen explained. "We are the chemorha."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Am I supposed to know what that means?"

"You've probably heard of toadstool sprites." Matthan contributed. "That's what the chemorha are. The pipe has the power to summon us or confine us to human bodies like these, or restore us to our true form."

"Right." Merlin put an edge of sarcasm into his voice. "And that explains why, it being thirty years since Uther banned magic and did this to you, you're only trying to get hold of the pipes now."

"We knew it wasn't likely that any attempt to get the pipe would be successful, so we decided to just make the best of things and find a new life in these bodies." Matthan ran a hand through his hair despondently. "We don't age, but a couple of years ago our human form began to wear out because it has to contain our life force, and it can't handle it. These bodies won't survive with us inside them much longer; we know that because of the arthritis pains we've been having. They've been getting much worse, too."

"We decided that since we're going to die soon either way, we might as well run the risk of trying to get into the vaults and get the pipe." Jeneen put in.

Merlin scowled, glancing from one to the other, concealing the fact that he was mulling critically over their words. They seemed sincere, but he was reluctant to help anyone who had drugged him and used him.

He would consult with Gaius, he decided. Let them stew in their uncertainty for a while. Without a word, he turned on his heel and strode back down the hallway, disappearing up the stairs.

* * *

A/N: So, what do you think? I wanted this part to be longer, but I got everything I needed into this scene, so it's short. What do you predict is going to happen next?

Also, how have I been doing keeping Merlin and company in character? I know I keep asking that, but I just feel like my ability to write them as they were in the show is slipping. The other thing that I feel like I'm doing less and less well with is the semiformal way they speak in the show; I normally write dialogue in a modern casual tone, so this is different for me. How am I doing? :P


End file.
